Fall of Night
by rodney
Summary: Set just prior to the Battle of Hephestos and the fall of the Commonwealth.


Gene Roddenberry's 

Andromeda 

"The Fall Of Night" 

-A Collection of Short Stories- 

"We never saw it coming. 

We didn't understand the Danger. 

They were are friends, allies and family, 

We were not ready." 

Admiral Constanza Q. Stark, 

High Guard Supreme Commander 

CY 9788. 

Chapter One 

"Peering the Darkness" 

"Lieutenant Rory O'Conner, reporting as ordered ma'am," said the young officer as he came to attention behind an older smaller woman with cropped red hair. She didn't acknowledge him at first, simply standing where she was gazing out of the rooms only window. 

Outside that window was the capital city of the Systems Commonwealth, from where Rory stood he could see the Conclave buildings were the legislature of the Commonwealth met. 

"Lt. O'Conner," the small woman finally said turning her fiery, yet somehow cold, stare toward him and returning the offered salute, "Welcome, please sit." 

O'Conner took a seat in a fairly uncomfortable looking chair standing in front of a large uncluttered desk. On that desk was placed a simple name plate, as if one could enter this room and not know who you were to see. 

It read "Adm. C. Stark." 

Admiral Stark took the seat opposite him, behind the desk, one that looked no more comfortable then his own. 

"Lieutenant," the admiral began, "I have a mission for you, one that requires a great deal of care and subtly. The Neitzschean Prides have been acting very oddly over the past several months, communications between the prides has reached unprecedented levels and a great many Nietzschean's are leaving planets where they are a small minority. 

"We need you to discover why that is..." 

It had been a simple briefing, Rory remembered, no indications of any real danger. The High Guard was just being cautious, that is what Admiral Stark had told him this, she said that this was probably nothing. A odd pattern perhaps that would work itself out in time. 

But that wasn't the case at all. 

Rory was running as fast as he could through the streets of the planet Hephestos IV's largest city. High Guard special ops training kept his legs pumping despite the shock of discovering the Nietzschean's true plan. 

Above Hephestos, gathering slowly from across known space, were thousands of warships. Heavily armed former passenger liners and freighters, along with fast and tough system patrol craft dominated the sky, a vast fleet of ten thousand ships would gather in only a few more days. 

In his hands he held the only proof of the Nietzschean intentions, a direct communiqué from the commanders of the Drago-Kazov Pride outlining the intended plan of battle. Using a technology from some unidentified source the Prides would create a black hole near Hephestos and then pick of High Guard ships one by one as they respond to distress calls. 

He had spent to long reviewing the shocking data, the Nietszchean's had discovered him, and though he had evaded capture inside the Nietzschean command centre security officers were even know chasing him down. 

Finally Rory could no longer run any further, his body gave out on him and he crashed into a heap on the hard pavement. Catching his breath, Rory managed to prop himself up into a sitting position. 

Directly in front of him was a small alley and standing in that alley was a young woman, a young purple woman with blond hair and a tail and she was calling to him. The blood rushing in his ears made it difficult for him to understand but he focused on her lips. 

"Come on," she was saying, "They're coming." 

The purple woman kept waving at him to follow her, but wouldn't come out to help him stand. Somewhere deep within Rory found the strength the stand once more and began to follow the purple woman down the alley. 

After the had travelled some distance he managed to ask her, "Who are you?" 

She looked at him and gave him a faint yet pained smile. 

"That's not important right now," she told him, "But I know what you have and how important it is, and I'm here to make sure the right thing happens, for all of us." 

Not long after they cleared the buildings they had been passing between and emerged once again on the street. 

Rory looked at his saviour once again and noticed a deep sadness etched into her face as if she knew of some tragedy that he could never comprehend. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

"I'm sorry," she told him as a loud crash sounded behind him. 

Rory turned to look in the direction of the noise and tuned back to see his purple saviour had disappeared, in her place stood a Neitzschean soldier long knife in hand poised to strike. 

One quick thrust to the heart ended it all. 

____________ 

A lightly bloodied soldier walked into the office of Commander Hannibal Dusan, the head of Neitzschean security on Hephestos. 

"Have you recovered the data," he asked in a mildly aristocratic tone. 

"Yes sir," the soldier replied laying the data disk on the desk before his commander 

"Excellent. You're dismissed." 

Dusan picked up the disk and regarded it for a moment. He would have to contact the fleet commanders and recommend that the time table be pushed forward. If the High Guard were given time to investigate it would ruin so many carefully laid out plans. 

Placing the disk back on his desk he opened a channel to the fleet. 

______________ 

"Captain on Deck," a sergeant called as Dylan Hunt walked onto the _Andromeda Ascendant's_ command deck, closely followed by his first officer Gaheris Rhade. 

"As you were," Captian Hunt returned as he headed for the command station, "Status." 

"A courier just transited to normal space, were moving to intercept," Refractions of Dawn, the ships than pilot reported. 

"Are we close enough for real time," Dylan asked? 

Rhade took his station across the deck from the Captian and readied himself. When communications was established a dark skinned Nietzschean woman filled the monitor. 

"The is the Systems Courier ship _Alactritous Missive, _do you copy?" the courier pilot called out insistentantly. 

"Go ahead _Missive_," Rhade responded though he already knew what was going to be said. He glanced down at his station and opened a communication sub-channel. 

A small text message appeared on his screen: All is ready. Operation is go. 

Gaheris ordered a Spacer to dispatch _Andromeda's_ own couriers to spread the word. 

They're early, Rhade though angrily to himself, though without betraying his composure as the ship transited to slipstream, he wasn't ready. The Uprising could not begin yet, more time was need to prepare. 

He wasn't ready. 

The _Andromeda _returned to normal space and it was too late, they were committed, the Commonwealth would fall. 

A pity. 


End file.
